Now methinks he did well in it, though [3519] Salisburiensis be of opinion, that magistrates, senators, and grave men, should not descend to lighter sports, ne respublica ludere videatur: but as Themistocles, still keep a stern and constant carriage.

Finally, other aspects of humanism and art remain obscure, until one takes into account paradoxical or ironical intentions: the Neo-Platonists had learned from Plato himself the way of dealing playfully with sacred subjects; Apuleius and Lucian had taught them the serio ludere, “art of playing seriously.”